I'm sure that I bought this book because of the back cover. I also became a widow suddenly and for a season, I gravitated to books of like circumstances.
This book is pretty much your typical Christian novel Perfect people with phantom finances, living in a flawed way until they are able to pull themselves out of the rut of negative habits and thoughts by the grace of God and strangers who become family.
I think the biggest elephant in the room that was never dealt with is Miss Priss. Lynn lives right smack up against her two sons and their families but her daughter never shows up in the book. The granddaughter, whose true name is only given once that I remember, is "mocked" for being girlie. Lynn obviously has alienated her daughter at some point in the past and she favors male children. Caitlyn, finally named on page thirty-two, will probably end up living life away from her family as her aunt before her.
Judith has no money but is able to purchase items at will, pay any money needed for her part of the house upkeep, and immediately start going to college. We find out in the epilogue that she has extremely long hair that she has decided to cut so she looks more professional. I wondered what she looked like while I was reading.
Angela, again, has no money but is only volunteering for quite a while in the book. She has more of that magical money that she doesn't seem to earn. We do know that she is extremely skinny and by the end of the book, she has found her peace and is still her high school weight after all these years.
Then there is dear Lynn. She has the most picturesque house, I thought for quite a while setting on a private lake, the perfect cat, immediate replacement of a perfect dog, perfect sons, and all the other perfects known to man. She also is the most amazing gardener, baker, chef, and supermom known to mankind. Don't forget to add that she not only grows her own food but she makes all her own breads, jellies, and other foods from scratch. She does have one flaw. Menopause. This is okay, because by the end of the book, once she has made peace with her life, the menopause symptoms have disappeared as well.
That all being said, there are a few gems thrown throughout the book. Few, but they are there. The book readers guide in the back for discussion asks the last question, "What was your favorite part of the book and why?" My answer is, "The final closing of the cover because I know I will not be dreading bedtime because this book is waiting on the nightstand."